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Burning used to be the way folks got rid of their waste. Perhaps we should all be more responsible to dispose of our own mess? I use a garbage disposal, we have recycling and refuse, but I’ve lived in the country where we took our recycle every few months. We burned yard refuse and disposed of garbage with a disposal.
Not sure what the historic method was, but anymore, I feel we all need to go back to a bit more self sufficiency.
[quote=harry chickpea;54636718]....I've no problem with the idea of recycling things, but the onus needs to be targeted on those creating excess packaging and poorly designed products instead of consumers..../QUOTE]
I recycle as my city requests, and I have no intention of ceasing. But the above comment points to where the onus should really be.
Anything that couldn't be burned or fed to animals was dumped into the rivers or cesspits.
Yes but that was before the era of endless plastic packaging. The bulk of our trash is plastic packaging. We recycle cardboard, glass and metal and we compost garbage. Plastic is awful stuff, it is killing the oceans.
But we were told back in the 1970s that we were going to reduce our reliance on oil. Right around the time of the oil crisis. We were going to use other forms of energy. Yet we are still waiting. Oil is responsible for the plastics. Reduce or stop the oil and there goes the plastic problem.
Actually we were going to reduce our reliance on Middle Eastern oil. That has been accomplished.
The big push was stop logging & save our forests---use plastics instead.
Yes but that was before the era of endless plastic packaging. The bulk of our trash is plastic packaging. We recycle cardboard, glass and metal and we compost garbage. Plastic is awful stuff, it is killing the oceans.
That's why the first component of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is reduce and not recycle. We need to minimize the amount of plastics (and other substances) going into our waste stream, whether it's into the trash or recycling bin. The trend of drinking "spring water" from plastic bottles is a great example. About half of that bottled water is "purified" tap water anyway.
That's why the first component of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is reduce and not recycle. We need to minimize the amount of plastics (and other substances) going into our waste stream, whether it's into the trash or recycling bin. The trend of drinking "spring water" from plastic bottles is a great example. About half of that bottled water is "purified" tap water anyway.
Ah, the agenda! It's to make us feel guilty for affluence, right? Now I understand. And you're succeeding. A mixed blessing at best. None of this "feel good" stuff is free and unfortunately the moneys come from other needed public programs. Or more taxes.
Ah, the agenda! It's to make us feel guilty for affluence, right? Now I understand. And you're succeeding. A mixed blessing at best. None of this "feel good" stuff is free and unfortunately the moneys come from other needed public programs. Or more taxes.
I have no agenda except to point out that unnecessary over-packaging, whether it be for tap water or HDMI cables, is a big part of the plastic disposal problem. If your response is to feel guilty, that's your prerogative. I'd like to see some eco-conscious organizations put up a wall-of-shame on their websites for companies that wantonly package their products in unnecessary layers of plastic, along with alternative suppliers.
Up until August 1 (today), we had weekly recycling pickup. My neighborhood, which is fairly big (around 1000 houses, at least one apartment complex, and several "patio" homes), was near 100% participation. Much of the rest of my town had a high participation rate as well.
Now, instead of weekly, we're going to monthly pickup with blue wheeled containers much like the big garbage cans. They can be emptied just like the garbage cans without a person having to jump off the truck and empty the bins by hand (and people will be losing their jobs as a result).
The problem is, just about every neighborhood in the city has an HOA that doesn't allow garbage cans to sit out in the open, and the bright blue recycling containers will be highly visible. Most houses don't have garages with enough space to store two big containers along with vehicles, so it'll be interesting to see how the participation rate suffers. I would not be surprised to see recycling to just go away eventually.
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